Hot Pick

Monday-Friday

Best in state: MSN.com named the Rancho Mirage Observatory the best new tourist attraction in California this year and MSN obviously knows what it’s talking about. Registration for the August stargazing parties was scheduled to start at 10 a.m. July 30 and, when I checked at 10:05 a.m., every party from Aug. 6-18, was sold out.

So, you'll want to get on the waiting list for September, or sometime in 2019.

I took one of the daytime tours of the observatory, led by the young city astronomer Eric McLaughlin (who grew up in the desert before attending San Diego State University), and he described the main telescope, a PlaneWave Instruments CDK 700, as being of “research level grade.” That means it can conduct highly sophisticated, computerized research even though its primary purpose is public edification.

The telescope in the domed, $4.2 million observatory can see galaxies and nebulae up to 50 million light years away (or more than 10 times farther than the nearest star) with remarkable clarity. Astronomy buffs can put their eye up to the telescope, but they may also bring their own telescopes to the McLaughlin-led stargazing parties.

Stargazing at the Rancho Mirage Public Library & Observatory, 8:30-10 p.m. most weeknights, plus regular astronomy programs in the library, 71-100 Highway 111, Rancho Mirage. Free admission, but you have to get on a waiting list. (760) 341-7323

Best Bets

Friday

Heir apparent: The influential rock band, Led Zeppelin, called it quits after its drummer, John Bonham, didn’t wake up after drinking the equivalent of 40 shots of vodka in 1980. After that, singer Robert Plant said he didn't want to record or tour with the remaining band members.

Jason Bonham, son of Led Zepplin drummer John Bonham, performs as Jason Bonham's Led Zepplin Experience, Cheap Trick and Foreigner performed at the Giant Center in Hershey on Saturday, July 15, 2017 at part of Foreigner's 40th anniversary tour.(Photo: Jeremy Long, Lebanon Daily News)

But Bonham’s son, Jason, who began playing drums in 1971 at the age of 5, is carrying the Led Zeppelin torch with his own “Led Zeppelin Evening.” He says the project was “meant to be part of my way of expressing my love for music and expressing myself with a tip of the hat to my father."

Jason played with Plant and Led Zeppelin bandmates Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones in 1988 at the Atlantic Records 40th Anniversary concert, and he teamed with Paul Rodgers, Slash, David Gilmour, Jeff Beck and others in 1993 on “Muddy Water Blues: A Tribute to Muddy Waters.” He also recorded for Atlantic with his own band.

So he has chops. Expect to hear him emulate his father’s bombastic style on Led Zeppelin deep tracks and mega-hits like “Whole Lotta Love” and “Stairway to Heaven.”

Friday

'Black Panther' returns: “Dive-in movies’ have become so popular in this desert, they're hardly a novelty. Now, movies must be good to entice you to drive and dive.

But this week, the YMCA-Palm Desert Aquatic Center has a great one. “Black Panther,” the second highest-grossing movie of all time after “Star Wars: The Force Awakens,” is playing on a special outdoor screen starting at sundown in the city pool.

Chadwick Boseman is Prince T'challa in "Black Panther," the Marvel mega-hit that will be screen at the Palm Desert city pool on Friday.(Photo: Marvel Studios)

The Buena Vista film, about a prince’s fight for the right to reign over a secret, technically advanced African nation, is fun in any venue. But, it could be a blast to be in a pool full of locals when Shuri, the sister of Black Panther’s alter ego, T’Challa, tells her brother, “When you said you would take me to California for the first time, I thought you meant Coachella, or Disneyland.”

Saturday

Comedy duo: Cheech and Chong are one of the great comedy teams of all time, following in the tradition of Burns & Allen, Abbott & Costello and the Smothers Brothers. But, unlike its predecessors, Cheech and Chong doesn’t have the traditional straight man – mainly because neither of them stay straight for very long.

Tommy Chong told me in our recent interview he actually patterned his character after Tommy Smothers. He doesn’t exactly do a dumb act, he’s just stoned. And then smart things come out of his mouth.

Look for Cheech and Chong to do a couple of their most popular routines from their '70s comedy albums, but mostly, this appearance at The Show will be an opportunity to hear how these old underground comics do improv in a Q&A setting with perfect timing.

Saturday

New film festival: It’s been over a month since we had a big film festival around here, so the Joshua Tree Retreat Center is mounting an event to ease your withdrawal pangs.

It’s presenting Timelapse Film Festival, featuring stories told with images captured on timelapse-capable cameras. The producers asked filmmakers to tell stories in four categories: “Humans and Nature,” “Living in the City,” “Documentary/Social Commentary” and “Experimental.” The top three juried winners in each category will be screened in the surreal setting of the retreat center, also known as the Institute of Mentalphysics, and an awards ceremony will be followed by a panel discussion with the judges and a reception.

The judges include Gunther Wegner, who is credited with inventing the software that made timelapse filmmaking possible, plus award-winning cinematographer and “Timescapes” director Tom Lowe, and Bobby Furst, the assemblage artist who manages the Joshua Tree multi-media performance space, Furst Wurld.

Upcoming

Tickets selling fast: Splash House has a great lineup for this weekend’s pool parties, which is what it takes to get music lovers come to the desert during monsoon season.

Music and water lovers enjoy Splash House party at the Renaissance Palm Springs Hotel on June 9, 2018.(Photo: Omar Ornelas, The Desert Sun-USA TODAY NETWORK)

Acts like Gorgon City, Gryffin, Louis the Child, MK and local DJ Alex Harrington have proven their drawing power because the pool parties are sold out. Tickets are only available to the After Hours parties on the tarmac at the Palm Springs Air Museum.

But those happen to be my favorite parties at Splash House.

You don’t have to look like The Rock or Vanessa Hudgens to meet people on the tarmac, and the environment feels like a high-end rave with all the flashing lights and the neon Palm Springs International Airport Tower in the background. But, most importantly, the after-party also has good artists, led by headliners The Black Madonna, Fisher and MIJA. It’s humid, but, when the party gets rolling around midnight, it’s magical.